Transformation or Death

A Little Money and a Place to Live Tomorrow is Enough (7)

The metal ball that had only reflected light from other places began to emit its own small green light. It was like the small LED light that appears when turning on a machine. Following that, mechanical clicking sounds could be heard as if something was moving inside Belt.

“What’s this.”

Han Jae-jung blurted out in surprise.

“What’s wrong, Jae-jung?”

“Ah… It’s just… My body feels refreshed. Maybe because I slept well.”

Yoon Seol-hwa asked curiously. He shook his head while mumbling vaguely.

“Hoho, that’s how it should be normally.”

Seeming pleased to hear he slept well, Yoon Seol-hwa chuckled. She felt endless gratitude toward him for treating her normally despite being unjustly kidnapped. Even while thinking of herself as selfish, Yoon Seol-hwa didn’t lift her head from his shoulder.

While Han Jae-jung took this casually, he continued watching Belt. Belt was still emitting strange mechanical sounds and LED-like light.

[57% until full normalization… 62%….]

Han Jae-jung glanced at the light while keeping an eye on Yoon Seol-hwa. Belt seemed to have definitely started rebooting. Though proper conversation wasn’t possible yet, it would be soon.

This meant he could now receive Belt’s assistance. Things like analyzing surroundings and calculating combat routes were certainly convenient. Above all, Belt could control the quests.

If strange quests appeared before convincing Yoon Seol-hwa, his position would become quite difficult. He needed to prevent situations like leaving her with unstable mental state to catch villains or help other magical girls.

But he couldn’t suppress quests with his own power. In terms of the contract, Han Jae-jung was thoroughly in a subordinate position.

[78%… 82%….]

Belt’s activation would begin soon. As he quietly waited for the percentage to fill, Yoon Seol-hwa slightly moved her head to meet Han Jae-jung’s eyes. Her soft breath tickled his neck.

“Ah… Right. Jae-jung. When do you want to eat breakfast?”

“Should we eat now?”

“Shall we? Is bread and fruit okay for breakfast? Maybe… Have your tastes changed?”

“No, that’s fine.”

Yoon Seol-hwa’s eyes trembled slightly as if anxious. When Han Jae-jung immediately denied it, her eyes regained their vitality. She nodded with a slight smile and stood up from the sofa.

“Okay. Then I’ll prepare it right away.”

“Thanks.”

Normally he would have said something like ‘Should I help?’ but not today. He was waiting for Belt to activate. He also had things to discuss with Belt. Regrettably, following yesterday, he had to let her prepare the meal alone.

As he watched Yoon Seol-hwa putting on an apron in the kitchen, Belt’s voice was heard.

[How patriarchal.]

“You startled me.”

[Given your steady heart rate, you don’t seem very surprised. Full reactivation is complete.]

“I know.”

Belt’s voice was still mechanical and monotone as ever, but its manner of speaking was human-like, just as before it shut down.

[You seem to be in quite a difficult situation.]

“That’s what you say right after waking up?”

[Then is that all you have to say to me who just woke up?]

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“Welcome back.”

[Thank you.]

He whispered quietly to avoid being heard by Yoon Seol-hwa. At the same time, his body felt heavier and a sharp pain shot through his left eye.

[Kidnapping is quite unusual behavior for a magical girl. Normally, the mascot would have restrained such actions.]

“Must be a loyal subject like you.”

[Is that a compliment? I’ll accept it gratefully. But it’s clearly strange. Allowing a magical girl to commit crimes… Mascots are like boundaries created to prevent magical girls from going astray. If it contradicts their original purpose at the time of contract, they would never help.] �

Typically, restraint is possible through methods like not helping with transformation or interfering with magic control.

That’s why when magical girls become corrupted, their mascots die. They eliminate the being that restrains them and become truly free. They run wild without regulation.

[However, I don’t sense any signs of corruption from her. I only detect the clear starlight unique to magical girls.]

“…I see.”

What Belt’s analysis indicated was clear. Blue Sirius’s mind was unstable but not insane. Her current actions were not leading down a path of corruption as a magical girl.

Kidnapping and confinement. These are actions that would cause significant repercussions regardless of who does them, celebrity or not. They’re not appropriate actions for a magical girl who requires strong sense of justice both externally and psychologically. Yet Blue Sirius carried them out.

So Yoon Seol-hwa carried out this incident without any malice.

Han Jae-jung felt relieved before feeling puzzled.

“That’s a relief.”

Rather than himself who was kidnapped, Yoon Seol-hwa who had no choice but to kidnap must have been more sad.

He sincerely thought so. How much anguish must she have gone through to resort to kidnapping. He felt infinite sympathy.

[It seems the Guardian is the crazy one. If you’re kidnapped, I hope you worry about your own safety first.]

“Are you allowed to insert personal opinions like that? Isn’t that another violation of duty?”

[Due to the previous punishment, I’ve succeeded in gauging where the line is between what can and cannot be said. The Guardian need not worry, so be at ease.]

“I wasn’t worried.”

It’s just a machine anyway. It’s not like it’ll die, so why worry. I should spend that time worrying about my lifespan that could break anytime like mechanical pencil lead or the magical girls who must have numerous hardships. Han Jae-jung spoke sarcastically.

Of course, that wasn’t his true feelings. The belt, which could read Han Jae-jung’s thoughts, chose not to make an issue of his statement.

[I see. Ah, reading your memories, you really employed a terrible temporary measure.]

“What.”

[Forcibly compressing starlight to focus on a single star. While the idea itself was excellent, the method was too crude. Please don’t do such a foolish transformation again.]

Come to think of it, he hadn’t been able to transform even once since that last transformation.

[Based on your idea, I’ll refine the transformation system. Until then, please refrain from transforming.]

“Like that’s up to me?”

If all the villains would commit mass suicide, I’ll consider it. Han Jae-jung looked at Yoon Seol-hwa with anxious eyes.

From yesterday’s conversation, Yoon Seol-hwa plans to deal with the Archer, Libra, and several other villains. Of course, her most important target is the Watcher, but….

He plans to resolve this later by deliberately losing. If he shows an overwhelming defeat and demonstrates the gap in power, reminding them that they could be defeated at any time, even if unable to kill them, it should provide reassurance.

However, the other enemies are different. When defeating them, even Blue Sirius must risk her life.

“How strong is Seol-hwa right now?”

If she’s the same as when they fought before, she has no chance of winning. Not against Libra who has fully recovered her stars, nor against Sagittarius who excels in long-range combat. Even the Argo Family is a formidable enemy in their own right.

At her current level, she might be able to make it an even fight against all the enemies just mentioned… But that’s a problem in itself.

With equal forces, various variables become more critical. Condition, surrounding terrain, mental state. Multiple complex factors overlap to lead to unexpected defeats. This is especially true for magical girls whose power varies with mental strength.

To protect one’s life, it’s necessary to widen the power gap even more.

“Here’s what I think. I’ll defeat these guys I’m thinking of now. Then have Seol-hwa defeat me when I’m weakened, and I’ll escape. Later, I’ll appear before her again and deliberately lose. I’ll flee pathetically. Wouldn’t this work without raising any doubts?”

[What a miserable plan.]

“Do you have a better idea then?”

[I’ve thought of several plans for your escape from here… But nothing yet.]

“I’m not going to escape. Discard everything and invest all calculations into how to persuade Seol-hwa.”

[…Understood.]

The preceding blank space was oddly concerning, but Han Jae-jung chose not to make an issue of it.

“Belt.”

Ding. A cheerful sound rang from the toaster, and the pleasant smell of buttered toast wafted into the living room.

“Jae-jung~”

“Ah, coming.”

Yoon Seol-hwa called, and Han Jae-jung got up. As promised before, the chains were removed so there were no restrictions on movement. There are no restrictions when she’s present. Of course, they would be put back on if she goes out.

While moving toward the dining table gradually being filled with food, Han Jae-jung continued what he was saying.

“What connection do you have with Virgo?”

[….]

The belt cannot tell lies. Therefore, it either speaks the truth or remains silent. This time, the belt chose silence. This was no different from an implicit confirmation.

While Han Jae-jung’s head might be cracked sometimes, he’s not a fool. The behavior and speech shown so far, and the red magic seen last time. Above all, the throbbing in the area Virgo had healed while interacting with that belt was evidence.

Whether it was due to absorbing that starlight at the time of death or if there were other variables. Whatever it was, it was certain that the belt had some kind of relationship with Virgo.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. From now on, I’ll think of you as an individual personality and respect you. So you should respect me just as much. Especially regarding quests. From now on, use your authority extensively to help me. Especially at times like this….”

[Excuse me for interrupting, Guardian.]

His eyes met with Yoon Seol-hwa’s, who was humming while preparing breakfast. Whenever their eyes met like this, she would give him a smile as soft as snowflakes. Contrary to feeling happy seeing her, a streak of anxiety ran down his spine.

[Quest appeared!]

“Wow.”

Han Jae-jung exclaimed in amazement.

It seemed the world was not on his side after all.

***

Ippotranslation 

***

Jason watched the conversation between Libra and his third Brother with anxious eyes.

“This is betrayal….”

But he wasn’t in a position to say this, having left the organization and now being in the enemy’s stronghold. Although guilt crept up, now wasn’t the time to be consumed by it.

“Why the fuck are you hiding again. Just go instead of being so frustrating….”

“Shh! The conversation has begun!”

Jason hushed the Archer who looked ready to spring up at any moment.

“What’s the matter?”

Third Brother, November, must have also arrived recently as Libra asked him. It was a question about why he came here.

“How dare you ask that?! Huh?!”

November reacted intensely even to his small question and raised his voice. Then he rummaged through his clothes and pulled something out.

“After putting this kind of thing in the money bag?!”

What he pulled out was a ziplock bag filled with powder. Not something like seasoning, but powder packaged in a suspicious way that anyone would question.

Even an ordinary person would suspect it to be drugs, given its appearance. Considering the source of this money bag, it was practically certain that this powder was drugs.

“What were you planning to feed our organization members, you bastard!”

November shouted in excitement. Libra asked without showing any sign of panic.

“Why did you search the money bag?”

“Obviously to burn it! Because I wanted to get rid of such things immediately!”

“I see….”

“Why did you give us drugs! What’s your intention!”

When November demanded answers, Libra inhaled with a ‘tsk’ sound as if puzzled.

“However, if you saw that, wouldn’t it be normal to report to your direct superior and contact them? Looking at how there’s nothing behind you, it seems you don’t even have troops… Why come alone?”

“I’m enough by myself to deal with you guys!”

“Haha, I like your confidence. But that’s not your real purpose, is it?”

Libra stepped forward toward him. Although November stepped back, his steps were so small that the distance closed.

“If you saw those drugs, you must have seen… The memo in front?”

“…!”

“As I said before, what’s in that bag was my gift. I delivered that bag as an apology. Substantial money and… Drugs. Yes, those are drugs. But not drugs for pleasure.”

Doping. Drugs for bringing out stronger power.

“That is a special enhancer. A drug that elevates villain power to the next level. That’s why I attached instructions in front of the drugs to avoid misunderstandings. You must have read it, so why did you ignore it?”

Libra observed the powder ziplock bag that November had taken out while chuckling.

“By the way… The amount has decreased.”

“…!”

“Don’t play tricks like blaming evaporation. Why do you think I gave it in solid form rather than liquid? It was to prevent deterioration during storage. But seeing that state… You used it, didn’t you?”

“…?! No, that’s….”

It must have hit the mark as November’s attitude became noticeably timid. Among the Argo brothers, he was particularly moody and his emotions showed well on his face.

“It’s alright. I’m not criticizing. I gave it to be used, so I’m grateful. Haha, now your purpose is clear.”

A sinister laugh echoed through the cavern.

“Did you want to become stronger?”

If one dreams of revenge, naturally they would first dream of power. Strong hatred leads to strong desire.

“Seems that wasn’t enough.”

November. Among the brothers, he who grieved most over October’s defeat would naturally have been the one most filled with desire.

There had been a harvest when visiting the Argo Family last time. After stimulating their revenge a bit, like this, a test subject came walking in voluntarily.

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